Because the 1862 and 1890 Morrill Act Land Grant colleges feature predominantly white or predominantly black student enrollments, a study to assess similarities and differences of the respective student bodies was undertaken. A selected sample of students at all southern land grant institutions was asked in the spring of 1977 to respond to a questionnaire dealing with personal and family background, high school experience, work experience, college experience, goals and aspirations, and attitudes toward various issues and topics related to occupational roles in agriculture. Percentages of students growing up on a farm were about the same for both types of schools. The predominantly white 1862 schools had a greater percentage (27 percent) of women enrolled in their colleges of agriculture than did the 1890 schools (18.8 percent). Loans and grants enable 65.3 percent of the 1890 students to pay their way through college while 24.8 percent of the 1862 students received funding from this source. When the desired educational levels were compared, the 1862 students were found to be geared towards obtaining a bachelor's degree with the 1890 students more oriented towards earning a graduate level degree. Of the students who chose to work in an agricultural setting, both groups chose veterinary medicine as the most frequently desired occupation with general farming or ranching as the second. Tabular data at the end of the document is used to summarize the study's findings. (DS)